Author: richwest3

January 26, 2020

This was the sunrise this morning as we left D’Urville Island after a really nice ten days there. We really needed this relaxing, quiet time. We’ll be back in the big city – Nelson – this afternoon. -Rich

P.S. As long as I’m posting unusual sunrise pictures, here’s another just before the sun popped up above the clouds.

January 13, 2020

Legacy is out of the water and on the hard getting fresh bottom paint, polish, wax, and a new depth transducer…

The new transducer, an Airmar SS60-12 is in. It’s the big stainless and black transducer in the picture below. With this, we should be able to tell more about the bottom composition. Is it sand suitable for anchoring, or rocks to grind around on all night long?

The black transducer that sticks down is our Forward-Scan sonar (video). It’s been great in shallow water as it allows us to look ahead about six times the water’s depth to see obstacles in our path.

We’ve treated ourselves to a hotel rather than climbing up and down the ladder to sleep on a boat in total disarray. Allspec is going to put the bottom paint on tomorrow and then it’s back in the water and maybe off for a little local cruising. -Rich

January 3, 2020

Quite a few people on the docks comment about the water filters we leave setup when we’re at a marina. No, we probably don’t really need them. In Christchurch, the first filter cartridge was pure white and looked unused, but here in Nelson, after only a couple of weeks, the filter is very brown.  Let’s not even talk about Fiji!

We initially started using a filter when we needed to back-flush our watermaker every week. The carbon filter removes chlorine which destroys the watermaker membrane. The carbon filters would clog up and they are expensive, so we added the 20 micron pre-filter. Later, we found that we liked the idea of clean water in our tanks and now use these all the time.

There might be a downside: removing all the chlorine from the tap water could allow things to grow in the water tank. As our watermaker is pickled right now and we don’t need to flush it, we added a couple of tablespoons of bleach to our water tank the other day just in case.

Would I recommend this filter setup? Yes. -Rich

January 2, 2020

This was last night’s sunset here in Nelson, New Zealand…

The sun was almost completely obscured by the smoke that’s drifted a thousand miles from the tragic Australian wildfires.

Here’s a satellite image of the smoke flowing across the Tasman Sea…

Windy.com has a great new feature that shows current fires. Here’s the image today…

We feel so bad for those affected. And for the animals as well. It’s hard to imagine the scope of this devastation.  -Rich

December 31, 2019

I find that whenever I do a boat project, I have some little bits left over: an extra valve, some screws and plastic parts, and maybe a switch. I could dig out each bin and properly stow these parts but that’s so time consuming. Instead I dump them in my “to-file-pile.”

Before we head off on any passage, or when the plastic tray just gets too full, I put all these items away – in one swoop. For me, it makes it easier. As long as I have to dig out the extra screws tray, or the plastic parts bag, it’s as easy to put a bunch away as it is to put just three in their proper place. At least that’s my logic. (Maybe I’m just rationalizing procrastination?)

And while we’re at it, it’s new years eve. File away our wishes for a wonderful and happy 2020 for you and those you love. -Rich